- Lucid Space Dreams – Oculus Quest
The Lucid Space Dreams is a close to 2 mins long video-based 360 degree VR experience, that brings the viewer into a very see-through, neon-like dark world, which in parts resembles the Avatar’s Pandora. This was my first experience with VR and I first felt slightly disappointed with the interaction this video provided, as it “only” allows the viewer to turn around his head and watch his “surroundings”. But after briefly experiencing other title on the VR Catalogue, that many times didn’t even offer the 360 view in the first place.
On the other hand, true to its name, this VR offers very authentic dream-like experience, where one is not in control of what is happening and can only watch as the space he finds himself in is constantly drifting. The result is a lucid-like feeling.
- Knockout League – Oculus Rift
Knockout League is an arcade-like VR boxing game. Situated in a boxing ring, one can fight against various opponents. The game is rather colorful and creative when it comes to the opponents one can fight. Each one has his own very specific looks and it felt as fighting style as well, so the player can fight with figures such as Captain Hook, an octopus or a wolf girl.
In terms of the experience itself, I learned it is hard to move in a way so the imaginary hand hits the target – it is not based on muscle memory as is natural for normal body, which is especially vexing, when one has more experience with boxing, but cannot implement them. On the contrary, only after multiple failed tries, I realized that in order to hit the target, the movement coordination must be based solely on my sight, meaning I first have to watch my imaginary fist in the VR, calculate the distance to the opponent and finally attack. This VR requiring of the player to distance himself from his body feels somehow unnatural but I guess one can get used to it. Otherwise playing Knockout League was really exciting.
- The Night Cafe: A VR Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh – Oculus Rift
The Night Cafe is a rather boring 6 minutes long VR video experience, which lets one “have a peek” into what does it look like inside Van Gogh’s painting The Night Cafe and “behind the scene”, while being accompanied by slow piano music. This VR does its best to bring the Van Gogh’s 2D version into 3D, while leading the viewer around the room, further behind what would have been the painter’s back, showing what cannot be seen on the original painting. The VR version brings the painting into life by animating what Van Gogh tried to capture as motion, one can see the lamps radiate the light, the billiard player rigidly shifting weight from one leg to the other, then behind the painter’s back the pianist playing (it doesn’t feel as if he is the one who plays the background music, as they are not in sync). The room is filled with the inspirations and models of Van Gogh’s paintings, giving off the feeling of being in a place that Van Gogh frequented and from which he took inspiration. Then, the viewer can see Vincent Van Gogh himself sitting in a chair, getting up and gazing outside the window, seeing his famous starry night. The viewer is then led around the rest of the house, seeing people and places he cannot see just from the original painting, finally ending in an underground dark room/cellar, with a piece of paper in memory of Van Gogh.